It is hard to make wise decisions when your most trusted advisors disagree on what you should do.  I’ve been there; done that.  That’s why it is so important to seek God first and ask for HIS wisdom in choosing our mentors and advisors on earth. God will lead us to those who know Him, listen to Him, and deliver His words to us as spiritual advisors.  God is for us who believe and trust in Him.  God does not oppose us; rather His heart’s desire is His best for us in all the details of our lives.  When opposing advise is given to us; we must go back to God and ask for His best path to take.  God will not fail us; it is not in His character.  God is faithful—even when we are not.  So, trust God. Trust His direction from His Holy Spirit living in us who directs us to all that is truth.

I have learned that when in doubt, don’t!  Instead, it is time to pause and wait on God.  God is always at work.  At times, we must wait on the Lord God to do what He does best—His will to be done in His way in His time.  God clears the path for our next steps to take in the wait!  We make great mistakes when we seek advisors who only tell us what we want to hear or to simply to use us to get ahead in life. 

Seek God’s wisdom in choosing those who will tell us the God’s truth then lean on God’s Holy Spirit in us who trumps all human advisors on earth. When God’s Holy Spirit agrees with our spiritual advisors, then it is time to move forward. Until then —Be still and wait on the Lord.  Strength will rise when we wait upon the Lord…I feel a song coming to mind!

David believed God and trusted that His path would be perfect because God is perfect in every way.  David sang what He believed about God in Psalm 18…I suggest reading the entire psalm but here is an excerpt;

“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great
You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.”           Psalm 18:30-35

Humanly speaking, if Absalom had followed Ahithophel’s plan, David would have been slain and Absalom’s problems solved. But David had prayed that God would turn Ahithophel’s counsel into foolishness (2 Samuel 15:31), and God used Hushai to accomplish just that purpose.  This is part one of the victory over David’s rebellious son, Absalom.

2 Samuel 17

Ahithophel said to Absalom, “I would choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. ² I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king ³ and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.” ⁴ This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.

⁵ But Absalom said, “Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say as well.” ⁶ When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, “Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.”

⁷ Hushai replied to Absalom, “The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. ⁸ You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops. ⁹ Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first, whoever hears about it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’ ¹⁰ Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.

¹¹ “So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba—as numerous as the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle. ¹² Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. ¹³ If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not so much as a pebble is left.”

¹⁴ Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

¹⁵ Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, “Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. ¹⁶ Now send a message at once and tell David, ‘Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.’”

¹⁷ Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A female servant was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. ¹⁸ But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left at once and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. ¹⁹ His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it.

²⁰ When Absalom’s men came to the woman at the house, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”

The woman answered them, “They crossed over the brook.” The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, “Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.” ²² So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

²³ When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.

Absalom’s Death

²⁴ David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. ²⁵ Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether, an Ishmaelite who had married Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. ²⁶ The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.

²⁷ When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim ²⁸ brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, ²⁹ honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Ahithophel’s matter-of-fact speech was forgotten as Hushai’s grand plan, punctuated with vivid mental pictures, gripped the hearts and minds of Absalom and his leaders. God had answered David’s prayer and confused the counsel of Ahithophel. Absalom would ride at the front of his army, intent on victory, but he would meet with humiliating defeat. “The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations” (See Psalm 33:10, 11).

Both Ahithophel and Absalom ended up hanging from a tree. Ah, but we get ahead of the story…How tragic it is when a man or woman leads an exemplary and useful life and then fails dishonorably at the end. There are old fools as well as young fools, and Ahithophel was one of them. All of us need to pray that the Lord will help us to end well. 

Trust and obey God—He knows what He is doing!

Lord,

Your story teaches us again of how you work in the lives of all the humans you have created, making a bad situations suddenly work for good for those who love you. This always amaze me with wonder, unspeakable joy with thanksgiving.  You have provided many miraculous acts in my own life—throughout my life.  When I didn’t know what to do next; I knew where to turn—to you! Thank you for saving me and then sustaining me through all the circumstances of my life.  In my imperfections; Your glorious ways of perfection redeemed me and healed me and made we whole once more. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Lead me, Lord, for I am yours and I am listening.

In Jesus Name, Amen